Benefits Of CrossFit

Why CrossFit Is Better Than The Workout You're Doing Right Now

Are you bored at the gym? Are you tired of the same old routine? Are you still not getting the results you’re looking for? Does this sound like the start of an infomercial?

If you answered yes to at least two of those questions, then maybe it’s time you joined the fastest-growing strength-and-conditioning-training trend known as CrossFit. At the CrossFit Games, hosted by Reebok, I had the opportunity to experience what this training style is really like.

It’s a vigorous workout that combines weight training, aerobics and gymnastics all in one so that you become fit in every area of your game. The goal is to be functionally fit: to push every aspect of your body to the max so that you’re healthy, strong and in shape. Not just so you can lift a ton of weight or run a minute mile, but so you’re fit to do anything that life throws at you.

If you're still unconvinced, read on to find out why CrossFit is better than what you’re doing at the gym right now.

Listen to AskMen's Man vs. Myth: CrossFit podcast where our host interviews Iceland's Annie Thorisdottir, two time CrossFit Games champion, and gets to the bottom of whether the benefits of CrossFit are worth the risk of injury.

Intensity

If you’re the type of person who moseys into a gym, does a round of bench presses, chats it up and then eases your way through a light workout, then CrossFit is going to be a serious wake-up call.

If the aforementioned workout is a light cup of coffee that slowly wakes you up, CrossFit is a shot of five-hour energy. It’s a fast-paced, intense workout that can take less than 15 minutes a day because that quarter of an hour is going to be condensed, nonstop movement. It may only be three or four routines, such as burpees, a jog and squats, but the idea is that you keep doing each one over and over through the set time.

It’s a concentrated shot of exercise and it burns the system — in a good way.

Effort

The key to CrossFit is the intensity, but hidden in that fact is that you’re inherently pushing yourself to do the most you can through each exercise in the workout.

Everyone wants results, but not everyone puts in the effort. In a regular gym, it’s easy to cheat reps here and there or sneak a longer break than necessary, but because of how the CrossFit workout is tailored, there’s no option other than to max yourself out.

Effort is the key to any workout routine, and because you go balls to the wall in CrossFit, you reach your goals sooner.

Short WODs

If you don’t have the time to spend an hour on the treadmill staring at the wall, the CrossFit Workouts of the Day (WODs) are what you need. One of the main benefits of CrossFit is that you can be finished in a matter of minutes — literally.

In a span of 15 or 20 minutes, you’ll be asked to complete as many rounds of a specific circuit as you can. By the end of it, because of the aforementioned intensity and effort, you’ll have burned more calories than you would have sleepwalking through a regular workout.

It’s faster and it’s more effective.

Community

Often times a gym is just a collection of random people focused on doing their own different exercises. At a CrossFit box, which is what they refer to as their gym, it’s community.

For starters, CrossFit is about competing against yourself and not others. In fact, since the exercises are done in group workouts, the others often encourage you and help you push your boundaries. Even the people who finish last get a round of high-fives for pushing themselves as hard as they can.

Everyone has the same goal in mind: to get in the best shape possible. Because of that, everyone is on the same team and working for the same goals. The camaraderie in CrossFit is part of what makes this exercise experience so unique.

Coaching

The certified instructors made a huge difference. You didn’t think you were doing these intense workouts on your own, did you?